Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

CHAPTER 1

Garrett

The trail was clear. Tire tracks ran through the bed of pine needles, leaving a depression in the ground. It wasn’t a road, but someone had driven that way recently.

The spring air was warm and I could feel a bead of sweat drip down my back as I hiked up the low hill. We’d received a call from a hiker who’d come across a car in the woods, well away from any roads or parking. It had seemed suspicious, so he’d reported it. Unfortunately, he hadn’t taken pictures or given us the license plate number, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to find.

It was suspicious, the hiker had been right about that. There was no good reason for a car to be out there.

Plenty of bad ones, though.

Cresting the hill, I saw it. A silver Hyundai sedan. It had seen better days, although at a glance it was hard to tell if that was due to how long it had been at its current location or to normal wear and tear. Probably a bit of both. There were rust spots on the trunk and around the bottom of the doors, and a few minor dents.

After confirming no one was inside, I keyed my mic to check in with Brenna in dispatch.

“Squad seven.”

“Go ahead, squad seven,” Brenna replied.

“Found the car. Looks abandoned.”

“I’ll run the plate and see if we hit on anything.”

“10-4.”

I gave her the license plate number and pulled out my flashlight to look underneath the car while I waited.

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” she said a moment later. “Silver Hyundai sedan, reported stolen from a residence in Echo Creek a week ago.”

Echo Creek was a town about thirty minutes away, just outside my agency’s jurisdiction. “You want to let the PD down there know we found it?”

“I’m on it.”

“10-4.”

I walked slowly around the car, looking for anything that might give us information as to why it was there. Through the windows, I could see a mess of garbage. A greasy pizza box sat on the passenger’s seat and the floor was strewn with wrappers, bags, and empty bottles.

There were three backpacks and a duffel bag in the back seat, all of which appeared full. That was a big red flag. Unless the car’s owner had been packing for a trip, those bags were probably full of contraband.

It was typical. Criminals generally stole cars for several reasons. Reselling, parting them out, joyriding, or using them as getaway vehicles or as a means to commit other crimes. Based on what I was seeing, my first instinct was that the car had been used in a string of other thefts, then abandoned.

I wouldn’t normally have been the responding officer for this type of call, but my role in the department had recently changed. I was still a deputy, but I was also a part-time detective. We were a small agency, without the resources for a fully staffed detective bureau. That meant I was still on patrol a lot, and, unlike detectives on cop shows, often still in uniform. But it was giving me the opportunity to do more investigative work. And it meant fewer graveyard shifts, which was a big win considering I was a single dad.

I glanced at the time. If this call hadn’t come in, I’d have been off duty in about ten minutes. That would have given me just enough time to go home and make sure Owen had done his homework, get us both a quick bite to eat, then head out to the Timberbeast Tavern.

Unfortunately, I had a date tonight.

How I’d let my aunt Louise talk me into a blind date, I had no idea. She inexplicably took credit for the fact that two of my brothers, Josiah and Zachary, had both gotten married earlier that year. She hadn’t orchestrated either of those relationships, but try telling her that. And, as Aunt Louise was notorious for her questionable matchmaking efforts, I never said yes when she tried to set me up with someone.

But for some reason, when she’d started bugging me about letting her set me up with someone named Harper, I’d caved.

Now I had all the regrets. I didn’t want to date. Not only did I not have time, I had no desire for another relationship. Been there, done that, got the divorce decree. The only good thing that had come out of my horrible mistake of a marriage had been my son. But parenting a fourteen-year-old boy on my own while working in law enforcement was the equivalent of about five full-time jobs. I couldn’t handle dating on top of that.

And I didn’t want to.

Harper and I had texted back and forth enough to make plans, but I didn’t know anything about her. And it was anyone’s guess if I could trust Aunt Louise’s description.

Out of a sense of duty, or maybe it was just manners, I texted Harper to let her know I was going to be late.